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Three-week window for Basin listing review

One of the barrages separating Lake Alexandrina, left, and the Coorong, at the mouth of the Murray. Shortly before the election, the Murray River, from the Darling to the sea, and areas of the Macquarie Marshes, were listed as 'critically endangered'.

Wendy Collis

The Federal Government has three weeks to decide if it wants to challenge a 'critically endangered' listing for large areas of the Murray-Darling Basin.

Shortly before the election was called, Labor water minister Mark Butler listed the Murray River below the Darling, and large areas of the western NSW Macquarie Marshes, as 'critically endangered'.

Those listings can be overturned, but only within 15 sitting days of the declaration being made, which means a vote in the parliament before the end of the year.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Senator Simon Birmingham, has responsibility for water in the new government.

He says he does have some concerns about the listing, and a government review is underway.

"These listings are regulations, so they have 15 sitting days in which anybody can move to disallow them in either house.

"That's why we're obviously conscious of the fact that we need to make a decision in relation to these listings before the parliamentary year is out, because that's pretty much the 15-day period," Senator Birmingham said.

"I have concerns about [the listings], but I want to weigh all the evidence around whether there is genuine additional environmental protection, or whether this is just largely extra red tape."

I have concerns about [the listings], but I want to weigh all the evidence.

Former minister and Labor's environment spokesman Mark Butler was travelling and unavailable for interview, but the Greens Murray-Darling spokeswoman, Senator Lee Rhiannon, says the listings were certainly needed.

"At the end of the day, all it is, is an additional process that really is quite minimal in terms of assessing projects along the Murray-Darling Basin.

"What we're seeing is the scare tactics coming out in terms of implications, that this will lock up the river and that it won't be possible to carry forward a whole number of projects, and that's just not the case," Senator Rhiannon said.

"It's a decision that was made by the Threatened Species Scientific Committee, and I'm not aware of when those decisions have been knocked back in the past.

"So yes, I can see why some people would think, 'good heavens what is happening here?' But it's where I just think we need to have some cool heads."

All it is, is an additional process that really is quite minimal.

Senator Lee Rhiannon, Greens' Murray-Darling spokeswoman

One year ago, the most comprehensive policy governing water use in the Murray-Darling, the Basin Plan, was signed into law by then-water minister Tony Burke.

Senator Birmingham says progress on the Plan since then has been sound, and that on its first anniversary "it's important to reflect that this has been a significant achievement, it's been a bipartisan effort over many years".

"Whilst we have our debates about how water reform is undertaken, it's important [to note] that the bipartisan support for water reform has been there since the Howard government days, through the Labor years, and now continues under the new government," he said.

"We're determined to ensure that the remainder of the Basin Plan is implemented in full, on time, in a way that preserves the productive base of our irrigation communities."

The Basin Plan process has been highly-emotionally charged from the beginning. Recently, the beginning of the latest step in the process also caused uproar, with vocal concern expressed by irrigator and community groups in the Basin after the released of the draft Constraints Management Plan, looking at how the full volume of environmental water can be used without flooding farms, roads, bridges and homes.

[The Basin Plan] is a significant achievement, it's been a bipartisan effort over many years.

Senator Simon Birmingham, Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment

In his travels around the Basin as part of the consultations on that draft plan, Senator Birmingham says there are still people with serious concerns about the process. But he says that, generally, community attitudes and concerns about the Plan have come a long way.

"The change of government, with our policy of capping buybacks [of irrigation entitlement] has eased a lot of the concerns about water recovery," he said.

"People are now talking to me a lot more about those environmental watering events, and making sure they can see good benefits for their local communities, good common sense in the way environmental watering is undertaken, that we're actually using and harnessing local know-how and doing it in a way that works with irrigators in terms of delivery of water, in its timing, volume and use.

"They're really wanting to engage a lot more in the long-term, positive management of the reform that's been undertaken, rather than having the heightened concerns that existed previously."